The Classmate, page 14
Mom’s face was buried in her hands.
General Winn sprang to his feet, nearly knocking his chair over. He grabbed my arm. “Let’s go. You can tell them yourself.” He tugged me out of his office, squeezing my arm so hard I yelped in pain.
“Let go of him right now,” Mom said. “I don’t care what he did. Let him go, or I’ll tear that hand off at the wrist.”
General Winn let go of my arm. “Come on. All of you, follow me.”
He led us down the hall, turned right into the smaller hall. He stopped at one of the doorways where we’d hidden a few days before. I looked at Mom, trying to understand what was going on, what we’d done wrong. She wouldn’t even meet my eyes. Persephone and Lorena looked flat-out terrified.
The door slid open. I’d been expecting a room and was surprised to find it was an elevator. We followed General Winn inside. There were only two buttons—Top, and Bottom.
We headed down in silence. The ride was longer than I would have guessed—we were going way below ground. It gave me a lot of time to marinate in my fear, to wonder why what seemed like such an obvious slam-dunk easy deal with Eve was such a problem.
The door finally opened onto a round, theater-sized room that reminded me of the NASA control room—dozens of people sat at consoles, others rushed around or stood talking in small groups. Over their shoulders, I could see that many of the screens were connected to the surveillance cameras all over the campus. One of these people was probably Earbud Guy.
“Madam President,” General Winn called. He turned to me and barked, “Follow me.”
Madam President? I scanned the faces until I spotted her, six inches taller than the people around her, built like a football player or a pro wrestler. Elsa Cauthen, the president of the United States. Suddenly I needed to go to the bathroom.
“We have a new problem,” Winn said as we approached her. The others who’d been standing with her melted away.
President Cauthen gestured toward an open door. “Let’s talk in here.” She called five or six names, and people peeled off from what they were doing and headed for the door. I glanced back at Mom, Persephone, and Lorena to make sure they were following as well.
It was a conference room with a long cherrywood table and black chairs on wheels. General Winn gestured for me to sit next to him. When everyone had found a seat, he was the first to speak.
“Our genius children have leaked the end game to Eve. They promised her a reunion with Adam in exchange for her cooperation.”
The president pressed her palm across her forehead, as if she’d just developed a migraine. “Does she know everything? What she is? All of it?”
General Winn looked pointedly at me.
“Yes, ma’am.” My voice warbled and shook and was barely audible.
“We need to pull her out of there and go with established influence techniques. Solitary confinement, sleep deprivation,” a grizzled old guy with a handlebar mustache said. “This was an awful idea from the start.”
“You can’t punish someone into representing you.” Hearing my mom speak startled me. “The Alioth will find out.”
“Just let her see Adam. Why can’t you bring him here?” It just came out. I didn’t even know I was going to speak until my mouth was moving. I think I was in shock—it was like I was standing outside myself, watching.
“That’s not an option,” General Winn snarled at me. “Drop it.”
“We need to go back to the earbuds,” a woman with wild, curly hair said. “We’ll camouflage them better this time, then send the kids back to Eve, and we negotiate through them. Give her anything she wants—to live at Disney World, to ride the rides with all of the Star Wars actors, to star in the next Star Wars film—”
“She wants Adam,” Lorena shouted over her. “She’s not three, she’s thirteen. Why can’t you just let her see Adam?”
“Because Adam is dead,” Persephone said.
The room fell silent.
I turned to Persephone, stunned. “How do you know that?”
“Adam wasn’t in any of the later videos from the lab. Plus, it’s the only logical explanation for why they won’t let Eve see him. They won’t, because they can’t.”
I looked at my mom. “There’s no second school? That was another lie?”
Mom didn’t answer. She wouldn’t look at me. I turned toward the president.
President Cauthen nodded. “Adam is dead. If Eve finds out, all hope is lost. That’s why we had to lie to you. One of the reasons.”
“Except by lying to us, we didn’t know not to promise Eve that she can see him,” Persephone said.
“You weren’t supposed to promise her anything.” General Winn pounded his fist on the table.
“I did that, not Persephone,” I said. “Persephone tried to stop me.”
“None of this is helpful.” The president looked different than she did on TV. Older, sweatier. Like it had been days since she’d showered. “We are out of time, and we need a plan. Stop pointing fingers, and start making suggestions.”
“Earbuds. Promise her anything,” the woman with the wild hair said.
“You still don’t get her. You studied her for years, and you still don’t get her at all,” I muttered.
“What do you suggest, Benjamin?” General Winn asked. “There’s no Adam to bring to her. What do you suggest we do?”
“I don’t know. But not earbuds and promises.”
The room fell silent. I swallowed. I needed a drink of water worse than I ever had in my life.
“Take her back to Benjamin’s house, where she’s happiest,” Lorena said. “Let Persephone and me go too. We’ll watch movies and eat pizza and try to convince Eve that this world is worth saving.”
I pointed at Lorena. “That’s a good idea.”
General Winn scowled at me. “Coming from the person who backed us into this corner in the first place, I’m not sure that’s a ringing endorsement.”
“Coming from the guy who thought it was a good idea to treat our emissary like a lab rat for thirteen years, I’m not sure you’re the right person to be talking about who backed us into a corner,” I shot back.
My mother covered her mouth to stifle a laugh, which surprised the heck out of me. I’d expected her to chew me out for being disrespectful to an adult.
“Did neither of you hear me when I said no more finger-pointing?” President Cauthen stared razors at me. I looked down at my hands.
“Other suggestions?” President Cauthen looked around the table. “That’s it? Our options are solitary confinement, earbuds and promises, and a pizza party? The top strategists and scientists this country has to offer are stifled by one adolescent alien?”
General Winn started to say something, but President Cauthen silenced him with a warning glance. “I’ve heard enough from you.” She locked her intimidating gaze on me. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but given the options, I’m inclined to go with the pizza party. These three kids are the only people who’ve managed to get Eve to like them.” President Cauthen raised a finger in warning. “Do not, under any circumstances, tell her about Adam,” The president looked from me, to Lorena, to Persephone. “Understand?”
I nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
“If you need something, just ask.”
We needed a miracle, I wanted to say. Instead, I said, “Yes, ma’am.”
The president stood. Everyone else jumped up. She looked from me, to Lorena, to Persephone. “I’m sorry to lay this burden on you. Maybe Eve is right. Maybe we don’t deserve her help. Somehow we have to convince her to help us anyway. Somehow you have to convince her.”
Chapter 30
As soon as Eve spotted us coming across the quad, she broke into a stiff-legged run.
“When can I see Adam? You’ll like him. We can all be friends and have movie nights together.” The hope in Eve’s voice felt like daggers through my heart. Poor Eve.
I swallowed and delivered the lie we’d agreed on. “They said Adam needs to stay at his school until this is over.”
Eve’s spines bulged.
I took a half step back, afraid she would lash out at me, and quickly added, “But they agreed to everything else.”
A low hiss boiled up from deep inside Eve. “I have the power. If they won’t bring Adam, I won’t help them.”
We’d agreed not to try to talk Eve into anything until we were at my house and Eve was in a good mood.
“Guess what?” Lorena said. “We’re all going to Benjamin’s house. It’s going to be awesome. We’re going to have a nonstop party.”
Eve huffed and folded her arms across her barrel chest. “They won’t change my mind by being nice to me.”
I heard the thump-thump of a helicopter, growing louder.
“It was Lorena’s idea, actually. Not theirs.” Persephone said.
The army green helicopter appeared, flying low over the treetops.
Persephone pointed. “Here comes our ride now. So, what movie should we watch first when we get there?”
Eve didn’t answer.
Chapter 31
Eve lifted a slice of pizza from the box, took a halfhearted bite, and dropped it back into the box. Even she could only eat so much.
Lorena was standing by the stairwell, talking to her mother on the phone, her finger plugging her free ear.
“You should have heard the president at that meeting,” Persephone said, watching Eve out of the corner of her eye. “Every time General Winn tried to open his mouth, she told him to shut up. She’s so angry at him for how he treated you.”
Eve reached for the popcorn. She didn’t seem to be listening to Persephone.
I thumbed through the movie options on the TV, looking for something Eve would like. Something that would give us all a lift.
My heart had been pounding nonstop since we took off from Sagantown. I was sick with fear, and Lorena and Persephone looked like they were as well. It was hard to act lighthearted and fun when you were less than twenty-four hours from Armageddon.
“Okay, Mom. I heard you,” Lorena said into the phone. “I have to go. I love you too.” She hung up and tossed her phone onto the couch beside her. “What are we watching? Or maybe we should put on some music?”
Eve studied the phone lying on the cushion. “Can I talk to Adam on that?”
“No,” Persephone and I said simultaneously.
Eve picked up the phone, turned it over in her hands. “Why not?”
“There are no phones allowed at the schools,” Persephone said. “Remember? None of us were allowed to have one.”
Eve made a puffing sound. “They built a whole school for me. They built a roller coaster, an ice cream shop. All I want is to see Adam, and they say no. It makes no sense.”
No, it didn’t make any sense whatsoever. I couldn’t think of any scenario where it would make sense if Adam was alive.
“I’m worried about him.” Eve turned to me. “Can’t you ask your mom again? She must know.”
“I’ve asked her so many times. She’s not important enough. There are a lot of things they don’t tell her.”
Eve studied me carefully. “Are you lying to me?”
“No.” My voice came out an octave too high. I was a bad liar. Part of it was I didn’t have much practice, but even with practice I doubted I’d ever be very good at it.
Lorena started to speak, then stopped. She looked at me.
My mother once told me whenever you’re in doubt about whether to lie or tell the truth, go with the truth. Sometimes you have to lie, like when your friend asks if you like his new haircut, and it’s horrible. This didn’t feel like one of those times. Eve had been lied to, imprisoned, experimented on, treated like one of Harlow’s monkeys. Yet President Cauthen had told us it definitely was one of those times.
I wiped a tear from under my eye. I was so tired, so scared. I didn’t know what the right thing to do was anymore.
Seeing that tear uncorked something in Lorena, and she started to cry silent tears as well. She wiped her cheeks with her sleeve, but fresh tears kept coming. I wasn’t sure if we were crying for Eve, or Adam, or ourselves.
Eve was watching us carefully. “Why are you crying? I don’t understand.”
“I don’t either.” Persephone looked terribly confused.
Lorena was still looking right at me. She wanted to tell Eve the truth. This final, terrible lie felt wrong to her. It felt wrong to me too.
I nodded to her, ever so slightly.
Lorena squinted at me. Are we sure? Her eyes asked.
No, I wasn’t. But we only had a few hours left, and this wasn’t working. We had to do something different. So far, telling Eve the truth hadn’t helped at all, just as Mr. Pierre’s people had predicted. But my heart told me this was the right thing to do, and Lorena’s eyes told me hers did too.
I nodded again. Lorena nodded back. She turned to Persephone.
“We’ve got to tell her, Perse.”
“Tell me what?” Eve asked.
Persephone squeezed her eyes closed and pressed the heels of her palms to her temples. I was sure she was going to argue or scream for the soldiers, but instead, eyes still closed, she nodded.
Lorena turned to Eve, and in a soft voice, said, “Adam’s gone, Eve. He’s dead. I’m so sorry.”
Eve’s barbs turned inward, covering her with little divots. “They killed Adam?” She stayed very still for a moment. “They lied.” She pointed at me. “You lied.” She pointed at Lorena. “You lied.” And then Persephone, who was shaking her head slowly, her face buried in her hands. “You lied.”
“They said you’d never help if we told you the truth,” I said.
“They were right.”
“But we’re going to die,” Lorena said. “Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
“You’re all liars. You deserve to die.” Eve’s tone was ice cold and rock hard.
Lorena stared her down. “No one deserves to die, even if they make mistakes.”
Without moving a muscle, except the ones that worked her wide mouth, Eve said, “Go away.”
“We can’t,” I said. “There’s no more time.” When Eve didn’t answer, I clasped my hands together like I was praying. Or begging. “We’re not all bad. My grandpa has long hair and dances to heavy metal music. You can meet him when this is over. I can’t wait for that time, when you’re my sister, and we’re all living on the same street.”
Eve twisted, turning her back to me. “You’re saying that because you need me.”
“Heck yes, I need you. But I’m not saying it because I need you. You’re a friend. You’re becoming a friend, anyway, and when someone’s your friend you—”
“Adam was my friend.”
My shoulder was suddenly on fire. Blood poured down my sleeve. I hadn’t even seen Eve move.
“I loved him, and they killed him. I wouldn’t help them for anything. Not for anything.” She glanced up and seemed surprised we were still there. “Go away, or I’ll do much worse.”
Persephone and Lorena grabbed me by the elbows and half carried me toward the stairs. Behind us, there was a squealing, crunching sound as Eve ripped the TV off the wall.
She raised it over her head and hurled it at us. I ducked as it hit the handrail and ricocheted over me, catching Persephone on the side of the head. Persephone fell backward, tumbled down the steps, and landed hard, facedown on the concrete floor.
Lorena and I rushed down to her. I grabbed Persephone’s arms, Lorena grabbed her legs, and we carried her up the steps as, behind us, Eve ransacked the room.
The door flew open just before we reached it. Mom took one look at us and shouted for the doctor.
Chapter 32
I barely felt the sting of the needle as the doctor gave me a shot to numb my shoulder.
Mom patted my good shoulder. “It’s not too bad.” She thought I was upset and shaking because of the cut.
“I don’t care about the cut.” The burning in my shoulder barely registered. Deep down, I’d truly believed Eve cared about us more than she hated General Winn. I was wrong. Nothing was bigger than her hate.
“How is Persephone?” They’d taken her to another room.
“She’ll be fine. No concussion, just bruised.”
The doctor getting ready to stitch my arm pressed his free hand on my wrist. “Hold still.” I took a deep breath and tried to stop twitching and shaking. As the doctor began the first stitch, I could hear the thread sliding through my skin, but I couldn’t feel it.
“You told her, didn’t you?” Mom asked.
I couldn’t get my mouth to form the word yes, so instead I asked, “What happens now?”
“Someone will go in Eve’s place. They’ll tell the Alioth Eve is sick. The Alioth were very clear about the terms of the meeting, but it’s a chance.”
I kept my face turned so I couldn’t see the wound or the stitching. There was a tray of fresh-baked brownies sitting on the kitchen table beside me. More bribes for Eve. It was too late for bribes.
Another crash in the basement. Eve had found something else to smash.
“What happens to Eve?” I asked.
Mom sighed heavily. “I imagine they’ll take her back to the lab. Or put her in a cell and leave her there until this is over, one way or another.”
Mostly, I felt bad about that. Mostly. She’d attacked us. We’d been nothing but nice to her, and she’d attacked us. And now, who knew what was going to happen?
“Try to hold still,” the doctor urged me. I was trying, but I couldn’t stop shaking.
Chapter 33
The helicopter that would take Eve away set down in the front yard, kicking up dust and spraying debris that ticked and clattered against the kitchen window. General Winn’s crew-cut head poked out of the cockpit, filling me with rage and a crawling feeling of disgust. Winn jumped to the ground and headed toward the house.
